Las Vegas, NM: NMHU track and field standout Keitta Torres (Fr. - Belen, NM) became NMHU’s first-ever First Team All-Conference track athlete at the recently concluded Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships in Gunnison, CO. Torres, competing in the heptathlon, grabbed third place with 3895 points. The mark broke her own school record by over 300 points.

The heptathlon is a two-day, seven event, competition in which athletes are awarded points based on their performance in each individual event. Torres set personal bests in four (100H, SP, 200, LJ) of the seven events during the RMAC championships and also established a new school record in the 200-meters (26.33) during the competition.

“Keitta was awesome,” said HU head coach Bob DeVries, “This was only her second try at a heptathlon. She really showed she belongs among the elite athletes in our conference. Keitta has a great future in the multi-events. She knows there is a lot of room for improvement in some of the events and that will come with practice and experience.”

Sophomore Erica Smythe (Torreon, NM) placed fourth in the javelin (35.57M) and brought home Second-Team All RMAC honors for the second consecutive year. Smythe threw just under her school record mark and had what throws coach Joe Quintana termed “a great series of throws”. The event was not without some controversy according to the HU coaches. “We felt the first round measurements were very inconsistent. Erica seemed to have a much further throw in the first round that we felt was marked well back. We spoke to the officials about the marking, but it may have cost Erica a first team all-conference finish.”

The 1600-Relay squad of Brittney Sullivan, Torres, Brieanna Roper and Stormi Brewer raced their way to a new school record and scoring spot in the RMAC meet. The all-freshman team ran 4:09.54 to establish a new record by nearly three seconds. “Our goal all year has been to get under 4:10,” said HU speed coach Jabari Johnson, “To do it at the RMAC, with an all freshman team, says a whole lot about the direction of the track program here at Highlands.”

Also scoring for the HU women at the RMAC Championships were Seandee Roseby (3000M Steeplechase; 7th place), Ana Juarez (5000M; 7th place) and Sandra Martinez (5000M; 8th pace). “We took 13 athletes to the meet and nine of them scored points,” noted DeVries, “That’s in a conference that is one of the strongest in the nation in Division II track and field. Now we need to keep bringing in more quality athletes and building the team to a high level in terms of both numbers and competitiveness.”